Glossary

assistant comptroller (fūsu 副寺)

Short for fūkansu 副監寺, literally "assistant" (fū 副) to the "supervisor" (kan 監) of the "monastery" (su 寺). An officer in a monastic bureaucracy; one of the six stewards (roku chiji 六知事). In Song dynasty Chinese and medieval Japanese Zen monasteries, the assistant comptroller was the chief accountant, a bookkeeper who served under the comptroller (kansu 監寺) and kept track of expenses for food and other supplies and income from donations and estate lands. In contemporary Soto Zen, only training monasteries (Eiheiji and Sōjiji foremost among them) have a functioning office of assistant comptroller held by a senior monk who actually serves as accountant for the monastery. The position of assistant comptroller survives, for the most part, only as a honorific title and seating position in various ritual observances, which some elder monk holds for the duration of the ceremony. "six stewards."